Used Citroen DS3 hatchback 2009-2016 review

Think of the Citroen DS3 as a French rival to the Mini and you’re on the right lines. This three-door-only small car might be based on Citroen’s rather ordinary C3, but with a neat design, plenty of options to customise its appearance and engaging handling it is a much more satisfying car to own and drive.

The interior looks smart enough to justify the car’s upmarket aspirations, although quality isn’t as good as you’ll find in a Mini or Fiat 500. The DS3 does edge these rivals for space, however, even if it falls short of the C3 on which it is based. The front feels particularly generous because of the deep windscreen and large seats. However, those seats do impact on rear legroom so the DS3 is best suited for carrying kids, who will also be better able to deal with the rather slim opening into the back. What’s more, while there are three seatbelts in the back, Citroen’s claim that the DS3 is a full five seater is a touch ambitious.

The boot has a high lower lip that you’ll need lift heavy items over, but overall capacity is much better than you’ll find in a Mini. You can easily fit the weekly shop or a couple of cases, and most baby buggies will slot in without the need to remove a wheel. In-car storage is less impressive, with a tiny glovebox and small door bins.

Petrol engines at launch consisted of 1.4- and 1.6-litre units, the latter available with or without a turbocharger. All of these engines do a solid job, but it’s the THP turbo that’s most impressive, giving the DS3 almost hot hatch-like performance.

Those interested in a diesel DS3 can choose a 1.6 HDI engine in a range of power outputs, all of which are pretty smooth and very frugal, if a little noisy. In all cars the manual gearbox feels a little loose as you shift between gears. If you’re after an automatic gearbox meanwhile, the six-speed unit fitted to cars built from 2016 onwards is a big improvement on its four-speed predecessor, which is jerky and sluggish, and therefore best avoided.

Although it has a firmer ride than the C3, the DS3 is still compliant enough to be enjoyable to drive on all but the most rutted roads. The exception is the DSport version with 17-inch wheels, which borders on the uncomfortable side of firm and transmits more road noise to occupants as well.

The trade-off for the DS3’s sporty suspension setup is much neater handling than other Citroens of its size. A Mini still leads the way in this area, but the DS3 is still pretty good fun to drive.

Those after the ultimate DS3 should look for the Racing model – later renamed the DS3 Performance – a heavily modified version of the car developed by Citroen’s talented racing division. While not perfect (the ride is ultra firm and the front wheels sometimes struggle to cleanly deploy the 207bhp produced by the 1.6 engine), it’s a very capable little car that’s great fun to drive.

The DS3’s major facelift came in 2015 when Citroen launched DS as a brand in its own right. As a result the DS3 (or DS 3, as it now became known) lost its Citroen badges while gaining a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine and a less cluttered interior design.

If you're interested in finding a used DS3 or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.

As you’d expect, the bottom end of the Citroen DS3 market is dominated by high-mileage cars and the occasional Category C or D insurance write-off. For one of these, you’ll need to pay at least £3000.

The DS3s you want to be looking at, however, cost from £4000 and have fewer than 80,000 miles on the clock. Petrol and diesel options are fairly evenly split, and at this price you’ll be choosing between a non-turbo 1.6 petrol or the 1.6-litre diesel. THP versions of the DS3 start at £4500 for a car that’s covered less than 70,000 miles.

Facelift DS 3s cost from £9000, while if you’re after a DS3 Racing hot hatch you can expect to pay upwards of £8000.

Citroen’s engines tend to perform well in EU economy tests and the DS3 is no different. The most efficient 1.6-litre diesel returned more than 78mpg, and you can expect 55-60mpg in normal driving.

Petrol engines range from 35-40mpg in normal driving, with the thirstiest being the 1.6 THP turbo. Adding an automatic gearbox will dent that figure by another 5mpg or so.

Choose a facelifted DS 3 with the 1.2-litre petrol engine and the on-paper figures of more than 60mpg look good, although in reality you’re unlikely to see much more than 45mpg.

Still, the impressive official fuel economy stats translate to low CO2 emissions, which in turn mean the DS3 is cheap to tax. Most diesel models qualify for free road tax (or a £20 annual fee at worst), but petrols are costlier, with the 1.6 costing between £135 and £190 per year. Insurance is reasonable, and Citroen’s fixed-price servicing costs for cars over three years old are competitive with rivals, with prices starting at £115 for a minor service and £195 for a full service.

When it was launched the Citroen DS3 was available in DSign, DStyle and DSport guises. Each of these could then be personalised with different colours for the bodywork and roof, plus graphics and various wheel designs, but if you opt for a DSign model you’ll still miss out on air-conditioning, and you might need to do without alloy wheels, too.

That being the case, we’d upgrade to the DStyle, which will give you these items along with LED daytime running lights and rear privacy glass.

Opting for a top-spec DSport version of the DS3 means you’ll get 17-inch alloy wheels and dual-zone climate control.

The 2015 facelift not only resulted in the loss of the Citroen badge, but also in the introduction of a new 7-inch touchscreen system designed to cut down on some of the DS3’s many interior buttons. The model range stayed much the same otherwise, but the names of each version were changed to Chic, Prestige and Performance respectively.

Our favourite Citroen DS3: 1.6 THP DStyle/Prestige

The Citroen DS3’s most obvious rival is the Mini Hatchback, which outshines it for interior quality and handling, but is slightly more expensive to buy and has a smaller boot.

The Fiat 500 is a smaller car than the DS3, but equally as cheeky and hugely popular, meaning there are plenty of examples to choose from. What’s more, you can pick one up for about £1000 less than the equivalent DS3.

Finally, if you are after a small car that is fun to drive and won’t cost too much to run, don’t overlook the Ford Fiesta. It might lack the DS3’s fashionable image, but it’s great to drive and unlike the DS3, Fiat 500 and Mini hatch of this era, is available with a family-friendly five doors.

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If you're interested in finding a used DS3 or any of the other cars mentioned here, head over to our Used Cars For Sale pages to find lots of cars listed at great prices.